He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me; for they were too mighty for me.
Parallel Translations
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He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me; for they were too mighty for me.
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He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.
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(18-18) He delivered me from mine enemy most strong, and from them that hated me, for they were too mighty for me.
Cross-references (13)
Passages linked to Psalms 18:17 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Hebrews 2:14-15 Since then the children have shared in flesh and blood, he also himself in the same way partook of the same, that through death he might bring to nothing him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might deliver all of them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
- Job 16:9 He has torn me in his wrath and persecuted me. He has gnashed on me with his teeth. My adversary sharpens his eyes on me.
- Psalms 35:10 All my bones shall say, “Yahweh, who is like you, who delivers the poor from him who is too strong for him; yes, the poor and the needy from him who robs him?”
- Psalms 142:6 Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need. Deliver me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me.
- Psalms 69:4-14 Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head. Those who want to cut me off, being my enemies wrongfully, are mighty. I have to restore what I didn’t take away. God, you know my foolishness. My sins aren’t hidden from you. Don’t let those who wait for you be shamed through me, Lord Yahweh of Armies. Don’t let those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me, God of Israel. Because for your sake, I have borne reproach. Shame has covered my face. I have become a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my mother’s children. For the zeal of your house consumes me. The reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me. When I wept and I fasted, that was to my reproach. When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword to them. Those who sit in the gate talk about me. I am the song of the drunkards. But as for me, my prayer is to you, Yahweh, in an acceptable time. God, in the abundance of your loving kindness, answer me in the truth of your salvation. Deliver me out of the mire, and don’t let me sink. Let me be delivered from those who hate me, and out of the deep waters.
- Ephesians 6:10-12 Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world’s rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
- Psalms 118:7 Yahweh is on my side among those who help me. Therefore I will look in triumph at those who hate me.
- 2 Samuel 22:1 David spoke to Yahweh the words of this song in the day that Yahweh delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul,
- 2 Samuel 22:18 He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.
- Psalms 9:13 Have mercy on me, Yahweh. See my affliction by those who hate me, and lift me up from the gates of death,
- Psalms 18:40-41 You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me, that I might cut off those who hate me. They cried, but there was no one to save; even to Yahweh, but he didn’t answer them.
- Psalms 38:19 But my enemies are vigorous and many. Those who hate me without reason are numerous.
- Psalms 25:19 Consider my enemies, for they are many. They hate me with cruel hatred.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (10 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Therefore God sent me succor.
Therefore God sent me succor.
To wit, Saul.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 18:17 He delivered me from my strong enemy,…
Psa 18:17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.
Ver. 17. He delivered me from my strong enemy] Saul; this he oft instanceth, rolling it as sugar under his tongue, and turning aside often to look upon it, as Samson did to see his dead lion fetching honey out of it.
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For they were too strong for me] And then God’s help was most seasonable when David found himself outmatched.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain From them that wanted neither malice nor power.
From them that wanted neither malice nor power.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain They prevented me in the day of my calamity,....…
They prevented me in the day of my calamity,.... Referring to the times of his distress in the garden and upon the cross; the time of his sufferings and death, which was a dark and cloudy day, as the word (x) used suggests, both in a literal and in a spiritual sense; and when the day and hour was come, fixed and determined by the will of God, then his enemies, though not before, met him, laid hold on him, were too mighty for him, condemned, crucified, and insulted him;
but the Lord was my stay; or staff, on whom he leaned, relied, and depended, believing he would help him; and by whom he was supported and upheld, Isa 42:1. The Targum is,
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"the Word of the Lord was my stay.''
(x) "in the day of my cloudy calamity", Ainsworth; "nomen" "proprie signifient vaporem vel nubem, ut Gen. vii. 6. hinc per metaphoram transfertur ad obscuras ac terrificas calamitatum nebulas, Prov. i. 26.", Gejerus.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 17. He delivered me from my strong enemy]…
Verse 17. He delivered me from my strong enemy] Does not this refer to his conflict with Ishbi-benob? "And Ishbi-benob, which was of the sons of the giant-thought to have slain David. But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David sware unto him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the light of Israel;" 2Sa 21:16-17. It appears that at this time he was in the most imminent danger of his life, and that he must have fallen by the hands of the giant, if God had not sent Abishai to his assistance. They were too strong for me. He was nearly overpowered by the Philistines; and his escape was such as evidently to show it to be supernatural.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain He delivered me from my strong enemy - The…
He delivered me from my strong enemy - The enemy that had more power than I had, and that was likely to overcome me. It is probable that the allusion here in the mind of the psalmist would be particularly to Saul.
And from them which hated me - From all who hated and persecuted me, in the time of Saul, and ever onward during my life.
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For they were too strong for me - I had no power to resist them, and when I was about to sink under their opposition and malice, God interposed and rescued me. David, valiant and bold as he was as a warrior, was not ashamed, in the review of his life, to admit that he owed his preservation not to his own courage and skill in war, but to God; that his enemies were superior to himself in power; and that if God had not interposed he would have been crushed and destroyed. No man dishonors himself by acknowledging that he owes his success in the world to the divine interposition.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 17. My strong enemy—The singular may be taken collectively…
17. My strong enemy—The singular may be taken collectively for all his enemies; or, more probably, as pointing to Saul, who in the title of the psalm holds this distinction.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 17. Figures are dropped, and David refers explicitly to…
17. Figures are dropped, and David refers explicitly to his deliverance from his ‘strong’ or ‘fierce’ enemy Saul, and Saul’s partisans who hated him, from whom but for this Divine intervention he could not have escaped, for they were too mighty for him.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain He delivered me from my strong enemy. This is…
He delivered me from my strong enemy. This is generally understood of Saul. By the defeat of Gilboa, and its consequences, (1Sa_31:1-4) God delivered David from the peril of death which hung over him so long as Saul lived. And from them which hated me. David"s enemies among the courtiers of Saul were powerless without their master. Many, probably, fell in the battle; the rest sank into obscurity. For they were too strong for me. I must have succumbed to them had not God helped me.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Ver. 17. When we have been rescued, we must…
Ver. 17. When we have been rescued, we must take care to ascribe all the glory to God by confessing our own weakness, and remembering the power of the conquered enemy. God's power derives honour from all the incidents of the conflict. Our great spiritual adversary is a "strong enemy" indeed, much too strong for poor, weak creatures like ourselves, but we have been delivered hitherto and shall be even to the end. Our weakness is a reason for divine help; mark the force of the for in the text.
Ver. 17. The saint's paean of victory over Satan, and all other foes.
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Ver. 17. (last clause). Singular but sound reason for expecting divine help.
Psalms 18:18*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.